As you know, businesses in the State of Utah opened up under safety guidelines. I managed to schedule a barber appointment ahead of time. The barbershop had a sign at the front that explains the new procedures going forward.
Seems a bit crazy, no? But, that is the precautions this particular establishment is taking.
In essence, there will likely not be any walk-in customers in the near future. The shop door remains closed until the customer shows up for his/her appointment.
Both the barber and the client have to wear masks. The barber also has gloves. It makes the haircut interesting as the barber would have to deal with the hair near the mask straps last. The only good thing my barber pointed out was gloves prevent hair silvers. That's a term for getting splinters in your skin.
Usually, the shop has about 5 chair active. Now, only about 3. Between each service, there's a bit of time allocated to disinfect the chair. Given these conditions, they serve less customers than before. Less customers also meant less tips.
Speaking of less tips, it should come as no surprise that prices hiked up. I tend to go to a barbershop in a nicer part of town. It also helps that I know two of the lead barbers there. The haircut was a bit pricey, but I like the service and the staff. At the time of writing, the prices now went from $30 to $45 before tips. That's a hefty amount! I may consider prolong the time between haircuts.
In addition, I would only book the barbers I like from now on. I used to have no preference as they were all skilled. Now, I would have to play favorites. Definitely not something I enjoy doing, but it is what it is.
The health department is not inspecting businesses at all. They don't have the resources to do so. The business owners interpret the safety guidelines to the best of their abilities.
With businesses opening up, I see more social gatherings. The other day, I saw people hung out at the food truck park. What I saw concerned me as everyone sat close together with no masks whatsoever. I suppose the next few weeks will tell us more about the behavior I observed.
On the other hand, I got to see fun stuff like the Sinclair dinosaur dressed up around town.
Gotta have some fun somewhere.